Coronavirus: public education key to China’s fight, disease expert says

Name: Chinese Covid-19 vaccine developer Fosun Pharma optimistic about progress on mRNA jab
Uploaded: 2020-11-08T12:00:20.000Z
Duration: 2 min 38 s
Description: Chinese Covid-19 vaccine developer Fosun Pharma optimistic about progress on mRNA jab

Zhong Nanshan says general understanding about control measures eased fears and helped contain outbreaks

But other countries might not be able to replicate China’s strategies, another medical specialist suggests

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Chinese respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan says spreading the word about disease prevention measures helped to ease public fears. Photo: Xinhua

Holly Chik

Published: 8:00pm, 8 Nov 2020Updated: 1:20pm, 11 Nov 2020

China has done a better job than other countries to educate the public about disease prevention, helping to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control within its borders, according to top Chinese infectious disease expert Zhong Nanshan.

“It eased the public’s fear and helped people understand and follow pandemic control measures,” Zhong told an online medical forum hosted by Chinese tech giant Tencent.

“We launched a community-based control strategy to swiftly contain the virus outbreak. To a large extent, it’s a victory thanks to the efforts in spreading medical knowledge,” he said, adding that the need to improve the public’s understanding of science was the biggest lesson from the fight against Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Zhong said China’s biggest achievement in its battle with the virus was successfully preventing it from infecting more people in the community.

In the future, medical experts around the world needed to set up a mechanism for long-term cooperation, sharing their successes and failures to broaden the international base of knowledge, said Zhong, who played a pivotal role in China’s response to the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or Sars, crisis.

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Chinese Covid-19 vaccine developer Fosun Pharma optimistic about progress on mRNA jab

China was the first country to be hit by the coronavirus and responded by imposing a lockdown on the city of Wuhan, the first epicentre of the global pandemic, in late January. The disease is largely under control in China and authorities fight sporadic outbreaks with mass testing and contact tracing.